Not without madness : perspectives on opera

Author(s)
Bibliographic Information

Not without madness : perspectives on opera

Fabrizio Della Seta ; translated by Mark Weir

University of Chicago Press, 2013

  • : cloth

Other Title

"-- non senza pazzia" : prospettive sul teatro musicale

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Note

Originally published in Italian as: "-- non senza pazzia" : prospettive sul teatro musicale. Rome : Carocci editore, 2008

Bibliography: p. [277]-294

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Opera often seems to arouse either irrational enthusiasm or visceral dislike. Such madness, as Goethe wrote, is indispensable in all theater, and yet in practice, sentiment and passion must be balanced by sense and reason. Exploring this tension between madness and reason, "Not without Madness" presents new analytical approaches to thinking about eighteenth - and nineteenth-century opera through the lenses of its historical and cultural contexts. In these twelve essays, Fabrizio Della Seta explores the concept of opera as a dramatic event and an essential moment in the history of theater. Examining the meaning of opera and the devices that produce and transmit this meaning, he looks at the complex verbal, musical, and scenic mechanisms in parts of "La sonnambula", "Ernani", "Aida", "Le nozze di Figaro", "Macbeth", and "Il trovatore". He argues that approaches to the study of opera must address performance, interpretation, composition, reception, and cultural ramifications. Purely musical analysis does not make sense unless we take into account music's dramatic function. Containing many essays available for the first time in English, Not without Madness bridges recent divisions in opera studies and will attract musicologists, musicians, and opera lovers alike.

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Details
  • NCID
    BB11760743
  • ISBN
    • 9780226749143
  • LCCN
    2012004826
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Original Language Code
    ita
  • Place of Publication
    Chicago
  • Pages/Volumes
    xiv, 303 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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